He has been named one of Britain’s most eligible bachelors and is the nephew of one of the world’s most famous women in history, but Louis Spencer, Viscount Althorp, keeps a relatively low profile.
The 29-year-old aristocrat is the youngest child and only son of Princess Diana’s brother Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer, and his first wife, Victoria Aitken (née Lockwood).
Louis was raised by his mother in South Africa following his parents’ split
While living in Cape Town he studied at the capital’s most expensive private school, Diocesan College where the fees cost up to the equivalent of £13,955 a year.
Louis Spencer, Viscount Althorp, is the male primogeniture to the Spencer’s Althorp Estate. He is the youngest child and only son of Diana’s younger brother, Charles Spencer, 9th Earl of Spencer, and his first wife Victoria. He drew a lot of attention when he attended Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s 2018 wedding, with his sister Lady Eliza Spencer and mother
When his father dies, Louis will inherit Althorp House and 13,500 acre estate in Northamptonshire. This is because of an age-old practice called male primogeniture, which means estates are passed to the eldest son rather than the eldest child, meaning Louis older sisters will miss out. Pictured: Earl Spencer and Victoria with newborn son Louis in 1994
He later returned to the UK to study at the University of Edinburgh. Tall like his cousins Princes William and Harry – and some say better looking – Louis went on to study acting at the ArtsEd drama school in Chiswick, London.
He is yet to appear in anything of significance, but graduated with a First Class honours from and was signed to the Tavistock Wood talent agency, whose stars include Dominic West and Lily James.
He performs under the stage name Louis John Lyons.
Unlike his older sisters, D&G model Lady Kitty, 32, and twin Tatler cover stars Lady Amelia and Lady Eliza, 30, Louis shuns social media and avoids high-profile events.
An unusual take for someone with ambitions to become a professional actor.
Society mag Tatler described the strawberry blonde heir as ‘tall, debonair, and very handsome but ‘super private’, even deleting his Instagram account.
Thanks to the centuries-old practice of male primogeniture, by which an aristocrat’s title and estate passes to the eldest son, rather than the eldest child, Louis will one day inherit Althorp House and its accompanying 13,500-acre estate in Northamptonshire.
This means his three older sisters will miss out on becoming head of the estate.
It is a topic that continues rearing its head, leading the Daily Telegraph last year to dub Louis as the ‘reluctant poster boy of male primogeniture’.
Earl Spencer shares Kitty, Louis and 30-year-old twins Amelia and Eliza – who have previously starred on the cover of Tatler- with Victoria; son Edmund, 19, and daughter Lara, 16, with second wife Caroline Freud; and youngest daughter Charlotte, 13, with his current wife Karen. Pictured: Kitty, Louis and the twins during their childhood
Princess Diana’s nephew Louis graduated with a First Class honours from the ArtsEd drama school. Pictured: At his graduation with school principal Julie Spencer
Described by Tatler as ‘tall, debonair, and very handsome, Louis is reportedly ‘super private’, deleting his Instagram account. Back in 2015, however, he made a surprise appearance on Nicki Minaj’s Instagram account, who captioned the picture ‘check out our wedding photo’
His eldest sister Lady Kitty, who married a fashion tycoon 30 years her senior in 2021, discussed being overlooked in the order of inheritance in an interview with Town & Country magazine.
‘Primogeniture can be a tricky topic, because as times are changing, attitudes are as well,’ she said. ‘We’ve grown up understanding that it’s Louis to inherit, and Louis will do an incredible job.’
The model, who has secured lucrative contracts with the likes of jewellery brand Bulgari, is just one of the would-be ladies of the manor who are set to lose out to their younger brothers.
Lady Violet Manners, 29, the eldest of the Duke and Duchess of Rutland’s five children, will be superseded by her younger brother, Charles Manners, Marquess of Granby, 23, while the Duke of Northumberland’s title will be passed on to his son, George Percy, 38, Earl Percy, rather than his 40-year-old daughter Lady Katie.
Other blue-blooded women, including Catherine FitzGerald, the wife of actor Dominic West, have signed signed up to the Daughters’ Rights campaign, a European-wide petition calling for an end to male primogeniture.
Catherine stands to inherit the title that once belonged to her father, Desmond, Knight of Glin.
Over the years politicians have also waded in on the controversial topic.
While Prime Minister, David Cameron said the ‘idea that a younger son should become monarch instead of an elder daughter, simply because he is a man, just isn’t acceptable any more’.
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson reportedly ordered the issue of male primogeniture be looked into as part of plans to make Parliament more welcoming to women.
The Spencer family have owned Althorp House and the surrounding estate in Northamptonshire for more than 500 years
Despite their complicated family dynamic, Louis enjoys a close relationship with his sisters, walking his oldest sister Kitty down the aisle in her 2021 wedding in place of his father. Pictured: Earl Spencer with Louis, Kitty and the twins at the opening of the Princess of Wales Memorial Playground in Kensington Palace Gardens in 2000
Earl Spencer, 58, however, is not inclined to embrace the ‘changing attitudes’ and has spoken out to say he will keep to tradition and choose Louis as his heir.
What is male primogeniture?
Primogeniture is preference in inheritance that is given by law, custom, or usage to the eldest son and his issue.
In exceptional cases, primogeniture may prescribe such preferential inheritance to the line of the eldest daughter.
The motivation for such a practice has usually been to keep the estate of the deceased, or some part of it, whole and intact.
The Royal Family brought to an end the system of primogeniture that had dictated the line of succession since 1701.
Under the Succession to the Crown Act 2013, princes no longer take precedence over their sisters.
It means Princess Charlotte, five, is ahead of her brother Prince Louis, two, in the line of succession.
Back in 2015 he said: ‘If I chose Kitty it would be against all the tradition that goes with Althorp. It’s just the way it is. I get the problems with it as a concept.
‘I also get the strengths of it having worked to date. It is still intact. If you go around the chateaux of the Loire or whatever, they are empty.
‘Everything gets split equally through the generations and you end up with a beautiful building with one nice tapestry in it. The whole idea of primogeniture was to keep it together.’
Perhaps it is easy to see why the Earl favours keeping the estate ‘together’.
He has seven children from three different marriages, meaning dividing the estate could become a tricky prospect.
Despite their complicated family dynamic, Louis enjoys a close relationship with his sisters.
He walked his eldest sister Kitty down the aisle during her Italian wedding, instead of their father, who controversially did not attend.
Their close sibling relationship is in part due to the fact that they enjoyed a privileged but private upbringing in Cape Town, where Earl Spencer and Victoria moved in 1995 to raise their children out of the public eye.
The couple divorced in December 1997, months after Diana’s death, and Charles moved back to the UK shortly afterwards.
Aside from a handful of photo calls with his father, Louis was kept largely out of the spotlight.
His first high profile appearance was at Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding in April 2011, although the 17-year-old was outshone by his glamorous blonde older sisters, who all model.
Four years later, Louis made an unexpected appearance in the rapper Nicki Minaj’s Instagram.
He was seen with his arm around the American star, with the singer cheekily captioning it ‘check out our wedding photo’.
It was at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in 2018, however, when Louis was really put into the spotlight, when he accompanied his mother and sisters to the event.
Dapper in a morning suit, Louis became one of the unlikely stars of the day and received dozens of playful marriage proposals from besotted social media users.
Tatler declared that Louis was one of the world’s most eligible bachelors. Here he is pictured with his mother and sister Lady Kitty at a party to celebrate being named one of Tatler’s English Roses 2017.
It was in 2018 that Louis really came to the public’s attention when he accompanied his mother and sisters to the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Pictured: Louis with his mother Victoria and his sisters Eliza (left) and Kitty (right) at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in May 2018
His appearance and strong family resemblance also earned him the nickname ‘Harry Lite’ and led to Tatler naming him one of the world’s most eligible bachelors.
No doubt his family connections and dashing good looks will come in handy if Louis decides to pursue his dream of becoming an actor.
In 2019, Charles revealed: ‘Louis lives in London. He’s an actor at drama school and works incredibly hard and I want him to be able to fulfill his dreams in that direction. It is full on: he’s doing 14-hour days.’
However it remains to be seen how he might juggle a burgeoning career with the sizeable responsibility of managing Althorp, when the day comes.